Generosity within the community shattered expectations on the Coldest Night of the Year.

Residents gathered in full force at the St. Matthews Church on McLeod Avenue in Spruce Grove on Saturday, for the third annual Coldest Night of the Year Fundraiser. A total of 179 walkers split into 37 teams managed to raise a total of $51,398 for the Parkland Food Bank surpassing their goal of $50,000.

“We’re absolutely blown away by this. We thought we were setting an unattainable goal as an organization. For us to surpass that is incredible,” said Sherri Ratsoy, executive director for the food bank.

Participants took off down McLeod Avenue, and completed either a one, five, or 10 kilometre course through Spruce Grove. Originally there were plans for a 20 kilometre option, but that had to be scrapped due to an extreme cold warning.

Freezing temperatures as low as -28 Celsius had seemingly no effect on the walkers, that returned in high spirits to a soup kitchen style dinner.

“It was really cold, but everybody was in great spirits,” said Kim Jones, captain of the Parkland Food Fighters team. “There are people in need in our community. Through efforts like these and the efforts of the food bank we can help those that are in need and strengthen our community. Strong communities make for a better world.”

For the Foodbank, the donation means peace of mind. With just over $50,000 they will be able to map out the foreseeable future. This will help cut costs when it comes time to re-stock and help to keep hampers filled.

While the fight to tackle hunger in Spruce Grove, like anywhere else, is on a continuous loop, contributions from the CNOY will help the food bank remain consistent.

“This gives us a little breathing space. That’s just about all of our food budget for the year. It gives us the ability to plan out our year, and when we need to do big bulk purchases we know we have a little bit of money in the bank to do that,” said Ratsoy.